The invention relates to a tire pressure control system for a vehicle for determining tire-specific parameters, which comprises a valve body, at least one mounting element and a tire pressure sensor with a housing, which houses means for determining at least one tire-specific parameter and means for wireless transmission of the at least one tire-specific parameter to an on-board control device, wherein the housing has a mounting area and the valve body comprises a mounting portion, and wherein the mounting portion of the valve body is detachably engaged by means of a mounting element with the mounting area of the housing.
Vehicle safety and reliability are central aspects of automotive technology. Therefore, for safety-related reasons alone, the tire pressure of motor vehicles should be regularly monitored which, however, is often neglected by the driver. For this reason, an increasing number of modern vehicles are equipped with detecting means in the form of tire pressure sensors, which measure the pressure in the tires automatically and transmit it to an on-board control device. In this way, accidents or defects resulting from low tire pressure should be avoided. Such automatic measuring of the tire pressure makes it possible to detect early and indicate to the driver when the tire pressure critically deviates from a tire pressure nominal value, thus making a manual inspection unnecessary. In such systems for automatic measuring of the tire pressure, one tire pressure sensor is arranged, respectively, on each tire or pneumatic tire. At the same time, a tire pressure sensor often comprises at least one sensor for detecting the tire pressure or the temperature, as well as one transmission unit and, if required, one electronic evaluation unit, which can also be on-board.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a tire pressure control system 100 of the type mentioned at the outset, which is known, for example, from DE 10 2010 050 365 A1. This well-known system 100 comprises a valve body 110, a tire pressure sensor 120 and a mounting element 130, which fixes the valve body 110 to the tire pressure sensor 120, wherein the mounting element 130 is designed in the form of a screw. For mounting the valve body 110 to the tire pressure sensor 120, the valve body 110 with its mounting portion 150 is inserted in a receptacle 160 provided at the housing 140 of the tire pressure sensor 120. The receptacle 160 has a drill hole 170, which extends transverse to the direction in which the valve body 110 is inserted and into which the mounting element 130 designed in the form of a screw is screwed in order to attach the valve body 110 to the housing 140. This well-known tire pressure control system 100 has the disadvantage that the mounting process involves the danger that the mounting element 130 designed in the form of a screw is lost and that a mounting aid in the form of a screw driver is required to produce a screw connection, which would ultimately retain the valve body 110 on the housing 140 of the tire pressure sensor 120.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show a different tire pressure control system 200. The tire pressure control system 200 corresponds also with the type mentioned at the outset and is known, for example, from DE 10 2004 048 244 A1. This well-known system 200 also has a valve body 210, a tire pressure sensor 220 and a mounting element 230, which fixes the valve body 210 to the tire pressure sensor 220. However, in this tire pressure control system 200 the mounting element 230 is designed in the form of a spring clip. Nevertheless, also in this case, the valve body 210 is inserted in a receptacle 250 provided at the housing 240 of the tire pressure sensor 220 in order to attach the valve body 210 to the tire pressure sensor 220. The receptacle 250 has an insertion slot 260, which extends transverse to the direction of inserting the valve body 210 and into which the mounting element 230 designed in the form of a spring clip is inserted in order to engage in a recess 280 provided in the circumferential surface of the mounting portion 270 of the valve body 210, thus attaching the valve body 210 to the housing 240. This well-known tire pressure control system 200 also involves the danger that a separate mounting element 230 is provided for the mounting process, which complicates the process of mounting the valve body 210 to the housing 240.